The Influence of Technology Differences on Corporate Environmental Patents: A Resource‐Based Versus an Institutional View of Green Innovations

This paper proposes that both the resource‐based view and institutional theory predict a positive relationship between the number of patented environmental innovations and non‐environmental innovations held by a firm, because they both are subject to the influence of similar factors. However, while the resource‐based view predicts that technological differences between the patented environmental innovations owned by a firm and those in the industry as a whole will positively affect the firm's environmental innovations, the institutional perspective predicts a negative relationship. Our results derive from a sample of 5537 environmental patents from 59 large companies in the electrical components and equipment industry worldwide, and show a positive relationship between patented environmental and non‐environmental innovations in a firm, but a negative influence on the number of the firm's patented environmental innovations resulting from differences between the firm's environmental technologies and those generally prevalent in the industry. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment     

Outward foreign direct investment from emerging economies: escaping home country regulative voids

The internationalisation of multinationals from emerging economies raises the question of whether mainstream theory can explain this phenomenon. We combine the explanations of outward foreign direct investment (OFDI) provided by the institution-based view and the investment development path (IDP) and suggest that the combined use of these explanations contributes to the reconciliation of the mainstream and emerging views of internationalisation. We argue that although OFDI is undertaken by firms to overcome the competitive disadvantages resulting from home country regulative voids, escapist investment is facilitated if these firms possess certain competitive advantages that help them overcome the liability of foreignness when expanding abroad. We thus expect the impact of regulative voids on OFDI to vary with the level of local firms’ ownership advantages. Our analysis of OFDI flows from 29 emerging economies over 17 years (1995–2011) provides support for the direct effects of two types of regulative voids and for the three suggested moderating effects of firms’ competitive advantages.     

Is there a bright side to government banks? Evidence from the global financial crisis

Using a sample of banks from 56 countries, this paper investigates the lending behavior of government banks during the crisis of 2008, and its association with bank performance and the economy. Contrary to the traditional wisdom, we find that government banks can play a beneficial role under certain circumstances. Government banks have higher loan growth rates than private banks during the crisis. In countries with low corruption, the increased lending by government banks is associated with better bank performance and more favorable GDP and employment growth in the crisis period. In contrast, the results for countries with high corruption are more consistent with the political view: the increased lending by government banks is associated with underperformance relative to private banks, and creates no beneficial effects on either GDP growth or employment.     

Orchestrating knowledge-creating networks: lessons from Taiwan's health services sector

The purpose of this study is to integrate transaction cost theory and the knowledge-based view of the firm to explore why and how a network's hub organisations orchestrate their members to create knowledge in the health services setting. Guided by organisation theory, this study examines a theoretical model at the organisation level, through a qualitative case study of Taiwan's health services sector. In addition to the discovery of a new sub-construct, the findings provide preliminary evidence that, both, transaction cost and knowledge-based factors influence the health services network as per the study's propositions. This study contributes to strategic technology management research by providing a conceptual model to describe and evaluate health services networks' orchestrating process for knowledge creation. The framework also provides a better understanding of, and a practical approach to managing networks to improve knowledge creation.     

Red,blue, and purple firms: Organizational political ideology and corporate social responsibility

Research summary : Why do firms vary so much in their stances toward corporate social responsibility (CSR )? Prior research has emphasized the role of external pressures, as well as CEO preferences, while little attention has been paid to the possibility that CSR may also stem from prevailing beliefs among the body politic of the firm. We introduce the concept of organizational political ideology to explain how political beliefs of organizational members shape corporate advances in CSR . Using a novel measure based on the political contributions by employees of Fortune 500 firms, we find that ideology predicts advances in CSR . This effect appears stronger when CSR is rare in the firm's industry, when firms are high in human capital intensity, and when the CEO has had long organizational tenure . Managerial summary : Why do firms vary in their stances toward corporate social responsibility (CSR )? Prior research suggests that companies engage in CSR when under pressure to do so, or when their CEOs have liberal values. We introduce the concept of organizational political ideology, and argue that CSR may also result from the values of the larger employee population. Introducing a novel measure of organizational political ideology, based on employees' donations to the two major political parties in the United States, we find that liberal‐leaning companies engage in more CSR than conservative‐leaning companies, and even more so when other firms in the industry have weaker CSR records, when the company relies heavily on human resources and when the company's CEO has a long organizational tenure . Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Integrating agency and resource dependence theory: Firm profitability,industry regulation,and board task performance

Boards of directors are key governance mechanisms in organizations and fulfill two main tasks: monitoring managers and firm performance, and providing advice and access to resources. In spite of a wealth of research much remains unknown about how boards attend to the two tasks. This study investigates whether organizational (firm profitability) and environmental factors (industry regulation) affect board task performance. The data combine CEOs' responses to a questionnaire, and archival data from a sample of large Italian firms. Findings show that past firm performance is negatively associated with board monitoring and advice tasks; greater industry regulation enhances perceived board task performance; board monitoring and advice tasks tend to reinforce each other, despite their theoretical and practical distinction.     

Resources and governance in “base of the pyramid”-partnerships: Assessing collaborations between businesses and non-business actors

Identifying, building, and maintaining partnerships with non-business actors are crucial challenges for multinational companies (MNCs) when implementing Base of the Pyramid (BoP) projects. Using a multiple-case study we analyze such partnerships through the lens of the relational view, focusing on resources generating inter-organizational value and on mechanisms for governing the partnerships. The cross-case analysis suggests that proficiency in identifying appropriate partners featuring non-tangible synergy-sensitive resources is vital for BoP ventures. MNCs compensate for their lack of local knowledge, contacts, and legitimacy by recruiting non-business actors for this consultancy and brokering function. Once a suitable network of partners has been identified, these resources need to be explored and exploited by developing personal relationships, communication routines, common goals, and partner-specific capacity building. Synergy-sensitive resources facilitate performance and long-term maintenance of BoP partnerships by establishing well-adapted and well-informed management practice and by creating a lock-in that works as an informal self-enforcing governance mechanism.     

论雷锋的幸福观对大学生的启示

追求幸福是人们永恒的话题。雷锋的幸福观是科学的幸福观,体现了他的理想、信念和高尚的道德情操。他对真善美的执着追求,对祖国和人民的无私奉献都是对我国优秀文化的生动诠释,这对当代大学生幸福观教育有着重要启示。我们要理解雷锋幸福观的实质,并以此为指导,引导大学生树立正确的幸福观。